Lost At Sea
by Masami Aomame
Summary: The sea doesn't take anything. It gives everything back. (Modern AU)


**_Please enjoy this fic the way you feel comfortable. I write out of my love for SasuSaku and I deliberately post them on a free platform. You don't OWE me any follows/favourites/reviews. I'm very thankful you even gave my fic a chance, I hope you enjoy it._**

* * *

Sasuke grabs the pillow from under his head and presses it against his ear. Trying to bar away the noise threatening to disrupt his peaceful slumber. However, the clamour only increases as two voices join the banging.

"Open the door!"

"Are you still sleeping?"

"Open the door!"

"Let us in!"

Giving up, he sits up on the bed and looks at the window. At the fine crack between the two curtains allowing the bright light from the other side inside the room.

The pounding on the door continues. With a sigh, he pulls the blanket away and picks up the T-shirt. Putting it on, he sluggishly pulls himself up from the bed.

"Why are you still sleeping? We'll be late," little Akane complains as soon as he opens the door. Puffing her cheeks and crossing her small chubby arms over her chest.

Sasuke almost chuckles. But knowing it'd only anger his niece even more, he holds it in with great efforts.

"We won't be. The aquarium is close by," Sasuke kneels down, intending to ruffle her hair. But seeing the neat pigtails, he refrains. "You two are being too loud."

"Dad told us to wake you up," Aoi answers.

"At this rate, you're going to wake up everyone in the hotel," Sasuke eyes his nephew. "Where's your dad anyway?"

"Mom and dad went for breakfast. With grandma and grandpa."

"Are you telling me they went for breakfast leaving the three of us behind? So mean!"

Aoi frowns. Blinking his big black eyes. Sasuke notices the picture of a cartoon whale on his lime yellow shirt. The same as his sister's. And the red pants with suspenders they're wearing are matching as well.

"Get in," he stands back. Opening the door for the kids.

"What about breakfast?" Akane asks.

"Let me brush my teeth and put some decent clothes on."

"What if they finish all the food by then?" his nephew sounds alarmed. Sasuke chuckles, "Then I'll buy you new breakfast."

"But… Dad said he'll buy me chocolate milkshake," Aoi's eyes almost tear up.

"I'll buy you chocolate milkshake."

"You will?" the little boy's eyes shine.

"A large one."

The twins smile exposing their tiny teeth and run into the room. Jumping into the fluffy bed.  
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"Finally awake?" Itachi smirks as Sasuke makes it to the table with the two kids.

"Your kids didn't leave me any choice," Sasuke gives his brother a stern look.

"Good morning Sasuke," Mikoto smiles at her younger son.

"Morning Mom. Dad. Izumi," he puts the twins on the chairs. Aoi already reaches his hands for a glass of milkshake he spots on the table, "My milkshake."

Akane, however, sits on the chair like a proper adult. Or at least she tries to. Grabbing her plate and pulling it to herself.

"You sure you don't want to come with us?" Fugaku asks as Sasuke finally takes his seat.

"I've been here before. I've visited most of the places. And Aakane and Aoi really want to go to the aquarium. I don't think they have any interest in history or architecture."

"Well," Fugaku nods slightly before biting into his toast.

"Will you be alright though?" Izumi speaks. "They can be a handful."

"It's fine. I'll manage. I love spending time with them."

"You're unimaginably good with kids," Itachi teases as he helps his daughter put butter on her toast.

"Isn't he?" Mikoto joins, "He'd make a great father. It's such a shame he can't even find a girlfriend."

"Mom! Please."

Mikoto laughs out loud.

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"Jellyfish!" The twins shout in unison and run towards the glass wall. Leaving Sasuke behind. He smiles to himself as he casually catches up to them, hands in his pockets. He sees the wonder in their wide eyes, tiny mouths open, their faces almost pressed against the thick glass screen. The soft light painting them blue.

"So beautiful!" Akane is the first one to comment.

"They don't have eyes," Aoi turns his face to his uncle. "How do they see?"

"Well, you see," Sasuke crouches down between the two kids, "Jellyfishes are different from us. They don't need eyes."

"Don't need eyes?" Akane blinks.

"Right. They don't."  
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"Pick one each," Sasuke tells the kids as he finds them staring adoringly at the huge basket full of plushies.

As soon as he finishes his sentence, the kids take off, heading towards the toys. Aoi grabs a pale red octopus plush with both his hands. He rubs his chubby cheeks against its soft fur with a happy smile on his face. Akane picks up a sky blue shark. "Mr. Shark."

"A shark?" her brother wrinkles his nose. "Sharks are bad. They attack people."

"No they don't. People attack them," Akane hugs the soft toy tightly to her chest with both her hands.

Aoi frowns at his sister. "Who said that?"

"Uncle." The girl looks at Sasuke. Asking for back-up with her best puppy-eye look.

"Uncle?"

* * *

"What's so great about sharks anyway? They're... kind of ferocious. They attack people," Sasuke turned his face to look at the girl sitting beside him on the edge of the cliff. Their legs dangling. The moist wind hitting them in the face. The waves of the ocean dancing against the rocks below them.

"You talk as if they jump out of the water and attack people out of the blue," she looked at him. His face reflected on her forest coloured eyes. Her long, pink hair blowing in the wind. Her brows furrowed. "It's people who go and disturb them while they just mind their own business. How can you blame them?" She turned her face back to the infinite blueness in front of them. "It's us, humans. _We_ are the ones acting like we own the world and everything in it. But everyone else has a right to live too. This earth is as much theirs as it's ours."

Sasuke followed her gaze. A few white clouds floating against the blue. The horizon almost undetectable at the distance.

"Hn," he just hummed in approval.

"You said you have a brother," she spoke. Her voice entangled with the sound of the wind and the waves.

"Ah."

"Why didn't he come with you?"

"He lives away."

There was a silence. If it could be called that. Because the sea kept singing it's never-ending song of waves kissing the shore.

"Do you miss him?"

Sasuke looked at her. But she was only looking away. She had a beautiful face. Soft and feminine. Her thin pink eyebrows created a beautiful contrast against the green of her eyes. Her sharp nose and full lips looked like they were perfectly sculpted by a skilled sculptor. And she was colourful. Unlike anyone he had seen in his life.

"Sometimes."

She didn't respond.

"I wish he could come with us. I miss those days when we were younger and all four of us used to go on vacations together. Now it's just the three of us."

"Then, one day you'll grow up and leave. It'll be just your parents."

He hadn't thought about that. Sasuke had never thought about that.

"Do you hate it?"

"Hate what?"

"Coming on vacations with just your parents?"

"No," he spoke loudly. "I don't hate it." He didn't. He loved his parents. He just…

"I just miss my brother that's it. It used to be fun with him. We'd go exploring together. Our own small adventures."

"You can do that by yourself too."

"It's not the same," he shook his head. "But I still try anyway."

"Is that why you came here?" she looked at him. Her bright green eyes were all he could focus on. Those weren't the kind of eyes he could lose himself in the depths of. Rather, they were more like a mirror. Offering him a reflection of himself. Of his very soul. "No-one comes here. Everyone visits the main beach and the other tourist spots. No-one comes here." She turned her gaze back to the sea.

"Yes. I don't really like going where everyone goes. I'm not fond of crowds. I like being on my own."

They sat in silence.

"Do you mind if I join you?"

"Huh?"

"You said it's not fun by yourself. What if I come with you? I grew up here. I can take you to places no-one knows about." And she smiled at him. And he lost something.

Might have been his heart.  
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"Do you want to try something?" she sounded way too enthusiastic as she pointed towards a small food stall offering a variety of sea-foods. Run by a middle-aged couple. Serving the customers with warm smiles on their faces.

"They're my parents by the way," she grinned happily.

"Your… parents?"

Sasuke looked back at the couple. Now he knew where she got that bright smile from.

"Yes. That's our stall. Our food is great. Because we use the freshest ingredients."

They ambled through the market. Side by side. Small stalls lining the sides of the narrow lane. Sasuke wasn't interested in the items they had to offer. But he wished the walk would never end. With the pink haired girl by his side. Blabbering continuously and biting into the grilled shrimps on the skewer they had bought earlier from her parents' shop.

Unbeknownst to her, his hand gently brushed against hers. She kept chattering. But Sasuke felt every hair on his body stand up.  
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"I didn't know there was a beach like this," he marveled as the two stood side by side. The incoming waves kept falling at their feet. He had folded his pants. The hem of her almost ankle length bright yellow sundress with spaghetti straps was getting drenched. But she didn't seem to care.

"Most outsiders don't. In fact, even many locals don't."

The small beach was guarded by high rocky walls on two sides. Almost like a slice of pizza, Sasuke thought. Keeping it hidden from the eyes of curious people.

"You said you don't like crowds. That's why I brought you here. I come here often. It's clean because people haven't found this place yet."

Sasuke was about to say something. But the string around her neck, holding the small pendant tore off all of a sudden. Falling into the water and getting brushed away by the waves.

"Wait-" Sasuke tried to chase after it.

"It's okay," she held his hand. Stopping him. His skin felt like it was burning where her long slender fingers wrapped around his wrist.

"But… Your pendant," he barely managed to speak.

"It's alright. The sea doesn't take anything. It gives everything back."

"What?"

"It'll give it back. Not to me. But someone somewhere will find it. And it'll be theirs. It was meant to be theirs from now on."

Sasuke stared at her. The blue of the sky painted the green in her eyes in its own shade. In that translucent bluish green, he could see the reflection of a gull flying in the distance.

"What's meant to be yours will always make its way to you. Once the time comes. And what isn't meant to be yours will leave you no matter how hard you try to keep it. You should know how to let go when the time comes. You can't keep things by force."  
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"Do you like it?" He asked as she held the tiny seashell on her palms.

"Yes!" her green eyes sparkled with pure joy. "It's so beautiful."

"We'll take this," Sasuke returned the small shell back to the shop-keeper. To have it sealed into a crystal, turning it into a pendant.

"That's a cute little boyfriend you've got there," the elderly lady commented. Almost making Sasuke choke. "So nice of him to buy you a pendant."

He tried to protest, to clarify the misunderstanding. But she didn't give him a chance. "Yes, he's very kind. I lost my old pendant at the sea." She smiled. As if she hadn't even heard the lady's earlier comment about the two of them.  
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"When do you leave?" she wasn't looking at him but at the water in front of them.

"Around noon I guess," he was looking at her. Suddenly painfully aware that the hours they had together were running out.

"So… Today is all we have?" she looked at him. Her voice stabbing at his heart. And it hurt. It hurt so bad but he couldn't care less. Because he saw it. He saw the tears glistening in her eyes. Why was she crying? What was hurting her?

"Why are you crying?"

_Please, say it. Say the words I want you to say. I beg you…_

"Because I'm sad."

He saw the tears streaming down her face. She made no efforts to hide it. She let it fall right in front of him.

"Why are you sad?"

"Don't you know?" she asked instead. "Don't you know, Sasuke?"

They stood there by the cliff where they had met for the first time. The wind blowing just like it did the other day. The sky just as blue and the waves crashing against the shore. In nature's clock, it seemed like time hadn't passed at all. But in the short lives of two mortal human beings, nothing was the same anymore. Nothing.

"If you don't," she finally spoke, her voice shaking, "Then…" she turned around, ready to leave. And this time, it was him. It was him who grabbed her by the arm. Stopping her.

"I do," his voice was barely above a whisper. Overlapping with the clamour of the wind and the sea. "I do," he said again. Just to make sure she heard it. Although he knew she did the first time. Because even though he couldn't see her face, he could feel her small body quiver. Through his hand that was wrapped around her forearm. He pulled her, gently, very carefully, and made her turn around. She was still crying when their eyes met. Without any word, his fingers brushed away the trail of warm wetness from her pink cheeks. The small contact making every cell in his body want to rebel. She looked at him.

"I'll come back. I promise."

"You will?" her green eyes shined with something like hope.

"You have my word. Next year, I'll come here again. To meet you."

She stared at him. Blinking a few times. Making him take notice of her long thick pink eyelashes. She lifted her right hand and clutched at the small pendant hanging from her neck. She held onto it as if it was a part of her body. A part of herself.

"You won't forget?"

"Never," he poured every ounce of sincerity into his voice.

She blinked a few more times before taking a step towards him. Then she got on her tiptoes and before he could ask why, he felt it. The warm and wet and soft sensation on his lips. He froze in his place. Not knowing what to do. What do you do when a girl kisses you? No. Not just a girl, what do you do when the girl you like kisses you? The girl you like, the girl you want to hold, to kiss. Yes, she was the girl he wanted to kiss. He wanted to kiss her. So what was he worrying about?

He wrapped his arms around her lean figure, bringing her close to himself, her warmth a contrast against the cold wind, her softness against his hard body. He kissed her back. Inexperienced but eager. It wasn't very comfortable, but she didn't seem to mind. And he didn't have any reason to.  
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The old chair creaked as she moved. Sitting on his lap, her legs straddling him. She stared into his eyes. Trembling and trying to catch her breath. He tangled his fingers into her long pink tresses, holding her face at a perfect angle. Making sure they don't lose the eye contact. Then she started to move again, not very slow, not very fast, not very sure. He threw his head back at the sensation. He could hear her moans and gasps. When he looked at her again, he thought it was the most ethereal sight he had ever witnessed in his life. The sight of her, sitting on top of him with her arms on his shoulders, biting her lips, her face showing expressions he never could have imagined seeing her make, completely bare except for the seashell pendant he bought her the other day that swung with her every movement, the beads of sweat on her skin glistening in the moonlight pouring in through the large window next to them. She looked like a mythological creature, like a goddess. An angel cursed with a mortal life.

"Sa… Sasuke," she breathed out. He wrapped his arms around her. One encircling her narrow waist and the other playing on her spine, following it's every curve. He pressed his mouth against her chest, just below where the pendant was dangling.

"You'll keep your promise, right?" she asked, her cheek pressed against his chest. The sweat sticking their skin together.

"I will," he put his arms around her, pressing her into himself even harder.

"Please don't forget, Sasuke. I gave you my everything."

"I said I won't," he kissed the top of her head. "I can't forget you. Even if I tried to."

"Neither can I," she didn't move. He wished she would, so that he could catch a glimpse of her otherworldly face. "I'll wait for you."

He didn't respond. They stayed there, pressed against each other's naked form.

"It's cold," her voice was still raspy when she spoke. Sasuke looked around. At their clothes thrown around the dusty wooden floor of the room. He found his shirt dangling from a corner of the table nearby. He grabbed it and threw it over her who was still sitting on his lap. She didn't say anything, just moved a little, making herself more comfortable in his embrace.

He had no idea how much time had passed. He was looking outside the window, at the stars twinkling in the clear night sky. The ocean, now a vast darkness except for when the moonlight reflected on the dancing waves. The old lighthouse standing like an ever awake guardian watching over the sleeping world. Sitting on the old chair in a room of this abandoned house that once used to be the abode of the lightkeeper, her sleeping form mingled with him, the warmth of her uncovered body against his bare skin, his fingers combing through her long pink hair that was falling all over them like a veil, he felt like it was a dream. Maybe he had just fallen asleep and traversed the boundary of the real world and stepped into the realm of fantasy.

When he opened his eyes, the sunlight was hitting his face through the window that no longer had a window pane. And he felt the weight on top of him. And he remembered. He could feel her holding her breath for a while. She was awake. But she didn't move. Instead, her breathing turned deeper. He almost chuckled. She was pretending to be asleep. It made him warm. She had woken up, but didn't want to leave him. Not yet. Just like he didn't want her to. He looked down at her. Through the curtain of her soft pink hair, he could see the red imprints on the junction of her neck and shoulders. His mark on her. Feeling giddy, he wanted to tease her.

"I know you're awake."

The audible intake of breath accompanied by the soft flutter of her eyelashes against his naked chest made him feel like something. He wanted to put his arms around her and hold her there. To never let her go. She looked at him, pouting. Her face was red. Both from embarrassment and the kiss of the morning sun.  
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Next summer was a nightmare. It was excruciating. Sitting at the hospital, waiting for his father to wake up. There were times when the face of a girl living far away from him would flash in front of his eyes.

'I'll come back. I promise.'

_I didn't forget my promise. I didn't. Trust me. I'm just… With dad's accident and everything…_

Sometimes he'd hate himself for thinking about a girl when his family was going through this horror. But she wasn't just any girl. She was…

_I'll come to you next year. For sure…_

However... Leaving the country to attend university meant vacations were rare. And with internships and everything, even visiting home became an impossibility.

After graduating, the first thing he did was to go on a vacation. Even before returning home. He went back to the small seaside town. Her parents' shop now had a new owner. He informed Sasuke about her father's death two years ago and that the mother and daughter had moved away. Where he had no idea. No-one did.

And that was when he knew it. He had lost her. He lost the girl who had his heart.

_'Please don't forget, Sasuke. I gave you my everything.'_

_She probably hates me. Probably thinks I was lying all along. Just playing around with her._

_I wasn't. I swear I wasn't._  
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Sometimes he thinks if she even remembers at all. Why would she cling to the memories of the boy who broke her heart when she was a teenager?

Sometimes he wonders if she found someone else. Maybe she's married, maybe she has a family, children. Maybe she's happy. Without him.

And he can't decide.

He can't decide which one is worse. Being hated by her for the pain he caused her or being forgiven by her because someone else healed the wound he left her.

In the middle of the night, while touching himself, he tries to imagine. He tries to picture her as an adult. No longer a girl. A woman. His mind forms a thousand images and he breathes out her name in his moment of ecstasy. Knowing very well that he'll most likely never see her again.

He never gave up. His eyes never stopped looking for pastel pink hair and emerald coloured eyes. But he knows that the longer he took, the thinner his chances became.

_But I'm trying. I'm trying my best. But it still isn't enough…_

_'...And what isn't meant to be yours will leave you no matter how hard you try to keep it…'_

_Were you never meant to be mine? Is that why I lost you?_

_'...You should know how to let go when the time comes. You can't keep things by force.'_

_If only it was that easy..._

* * *

"Wait Akane, don't run."

As soon as the words leave his mouth, Akane trips and falls to the ground. Picking Aoi up, Sasuke rushes to her. "Akane!"

Putting his nephew down, he helps the girl get up. Aoi picks up his sister's shark plush from the ground, while strongly holding onto his own octopus toy. And Akane wails, drawing attention from the crowd.

"It's alright, Akane," Sasuke tries to comfort the crying girl. "You're a strong girl. Right?"

"Did she scrape her knee? I have band-aid. But first we need to clean up the wound," someone speaks from behind him.

"Yeah, I think-" his sentence stops midway as he turns around.

He doesn't see anything. Anything except the two wide green eyes staring at him in disbelief and the long pink tresses surrounding a familiar, yet new face. And where the V-line of the dress sits against her chest, he recognises the small seashell pendant hanging from a fine silver chain.

_'What's meant to be yours will always make its way to you…'_

"Sakura…"

* * *

**Note:** I've taken the names Akane and Aoi from the twins in the manga _Love So Life_ by _Kouchi Kaede_ Sensei. It's one of my favourite mangas.

Don't anyone dare complain that it's an open ending. It isn't (►˛◄'!)

My exams are approaching, so I'm not writing much these days. Also, I've been sick for a while. I recover from one problem, then another says hello. Anyway, everyone take care.

Love,

June ❤️

[18.11.2019]


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